Mohamed Najeeb Bannan

Mohamed Najeeb Bannan was a judge of the Islamic Front Sharia Court.

Biography
Mohamed Najeeb Bannan was an imam who sided with the Islamic Front during the Syrian Civil War, and he became a judge of their sharia court in Aleppo, dealing with robberies and drug use to moral crimes. He was interviewed by VICE News correspondent Aris Roussinos in the "Ghosts of Aleppo" documentary about life during the Battle of Aleppo. VICE News was able to watch him dealing with a case involving drug use and a case involving the murder of five men. When asked if he saw the implementation of sharia law as a model for a future Syria, Bannan stated that he believed that the Muslim majority would ask for an Islamic state. He said that to start off by killing, crucifying, et cetera was not correct at all, and that beheading and cutting off hands only applied to criminals. When asked how his implementation of sharia was different from that of the ISlamic State of Iraq and Syria, he said that they established what is called tamkeen (having a stable state), claiming that they were given permission by Allah to form a caliphate, going against the beliefs of religious scholars around the world.